Tom Brady says he didn't celebrate Jimmy Garoppolo trade to 49ers

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady countered the characterization in an ESPN The Magazine story that he "seemed liberated" after the team traded backup Jimmy Garoppolo.

The ESPN The Magazine story said "some players and staffers noticed that Brady seemed especially excited, hollering and cajoling."

"I think that's just such a poor characterization of anything. In 18 years, I've never celebrated when someone has been traded, been cut," Brady said Tuesday in his weekly interview on sports radio WEEI's Kirk and Callahan Show. "I would say that's disappointing to hear that someone would express that, or a writer would express that, because it's so far from what my beliefs are about my teammates.

"I think I'm very empathetic toward other people's experiences. I know those situations aren't easy. I've never been traded or released, but I can imagine how that might feel. I would never, ever feel that way about when Jimmy got traded, when Jacoby [Brissett] got traded. I've kept in touch with all those guys. When Matt Cassel was gone. All these guys I've worked with, I felt like I had such a great relationship with all the quarterbacks I've worked with. I kept in touch with basically everybody. So to characterize that as a certain way is just completely, completely wrong."

Brady said he didn't read the ESPN The Magazine story "cover to cover" but felt like he "got most of it."

Asked if the story bothers him, he said on the program, "I think there are a lot of things that are said. I think you can go about your life, and certainly here with this team, and try to do what I've always done for a long time, and be a good teammate, and work as hard as I can to help the team win, and then somebody can write something to contradict that, and I think it's up to everybody to believe what they want to believe.

"I don't put too much thought into it, really. I feel like I have a great relationship with my teammates. If others don't feel like they have a great relationship with me, that's one thing, but I try to do what I've always done and be the best teammate I can be. I don't think that's ever really changed in my mind."

Brady also denied preventing Garoppolo from working with Alex Guerrero while defending his relationship with his personal trainer and business partner.

"You guys obviously know how I feel about Alex and the work we've done together," Brady said. "I just keep doing what my process has been and worked [for me] for a long time."

Asked what was true in the story, Brady called that "a tough question."

"Everyone has different truths," Brady said. "When you talk about the way I see things, the way you guys see things, the way the writer may see things, the way Coach Belichick may see things, everyone has different truths based on their perspectives. I feel like I go about my business like I have every year, and again, I like to speak for myself, because that's how -- I don't want to speak on someone else's behalf or what their experiences are. I try to do the best I can do, like I've always done."